Is There Prayer and Supplication in Christianity

 Transcribed by AI

Greetings to you, esteemed listeners, and how are you? We are happy to once again be here through our programme, serving you dear friends. Esteemed listeners, you are listening to the programme "With You" from Radio Voice of Life.

Well, dear and esteemed friends, we have once again in the studio our beloved Jawad. Jawad, welcome to the programme "With You." Thank you, Shaya, I also send my greetings and respect to all our dear listeners who are tuning in to our programme. I pray that wherever they are, they remain healthy, happy, and may all the goodness of the world be with them today.

Very well, so Jawad, could you tell our listeners, who are currently hearing your voice directly from the studio, what questions did our listeners have when they called in, and what were your responses to them? Shaya, once again, I thank our dear listeners who called in and connected with us. We had some very good phone calls, and among those, there were questions that were quite interesting. However, the way they expressed themselves could have been better. But generally, many others who called in spoke excellently; they wanted to understand the word of God. One question that was particularly interesting to me was whether prayer and supplication exist in Christianity. They expressed that they think Christianity does not have these concepts, so we should discuss this further, as many of our dear listeners may not have heard our previous programmes and do not have answers to this question.

Indeed, that is a very interesting question, and perhaps many of our listeners have previously asked this question. This is because everyone perceives things from their own perspective, and it is good that these questions are repeated so that new listeners can also find their answers. Exactly, Shaya, I also think the same way. We do not get tired of answering our listeners' questions and spending time with them. Each of you, if you have questions, please, please, please call us. You heard the numbers at the beginning of the programme and you will hear them again at the end. I would be happy to be in contact with you.

So, Shaya, when we pray, we should first understand the meaning of prayer—what it means. Why do we want to say this? Because many people pray according to religion and tradition, and in Afghanistan, for instance, when people pray, they think that they just need to recite the prescribed prayers. They believe they must repeat certain phrases, perform movements, and complete those five daily prayers. However, we must first understand the meaning of prayer. When we look at it, Shaya, prayer means a supplication or an action conducted with the aim of establishing a close relationship with God. In other words, through prayer, we should establish a close connection with our Creator.

The term "prayer" is derived from the Persian language, pronounced as "namaz." This term has been used by Zoroastrians to some extent, and for this term, the Arabic term "salat" should be used. Shaya, when Islam came, Persian speakers began to refer to it as "salat," meaning that it was better to use the Arabic term. The meaning of this term in Persian conveys the notion of submission, bowing down before God, expressing servitude, and following the divine. In other words, it means to honour and respect the Creator. As you may know, in our country, Muslims pray in Arabic, and Muslims all around the world pray in Arabic.

Moreover, something I observe in our homeland, Afghanistan, is that many people take pride in praying. Often, they consider themselves superior to others, and within families, someone who prays might scold or criticise someone who does not. They might say, "Why don't you pray?" For instance, there may be someone who does not pray themselves but tries to force others to pray, and when they start praying, they often judge others who do not pray. This is something we frequently observe in families and communities. Unfortunately, many times, praying is done for show rather than genuine devotion. I have seen people who do not pray but, when in a crowd or at an event, make a show of praying, elongating their prayers to demonstrate their piety.

We understand that especially there is a lot of encouragement for people to pray in congregation, but prayer can be done individually or in a group. We have seen that many people gather to pray, and often, they even block the streets to indicate that they are praying. In Arab countries and many other nations, we see people trying to find a space to pray, even blocking streets to show that they are praying.

These are things we observe in our community. And as our dear listener mentioned, the motivation behind this is that we pray. And you Christians, do you pray? Do you supplicate? Do you give charity? They perceive it differently. The truth is they lack information. Therefore, today we are reading from the Holy Gospel, from Matthew chapter six, to see what commands Christ has given to His followers, the followers of Jesus Christ.

From chapter six of the Gospel of Matthew, if friends have the Holy Book, please open your books so we can read. Jesus Christ says in the first verse, "Be careful not to perform your righteous acts in front of others to be seen by them." This is the first thing He mentions—that your intention should not be to attract attention because if you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. If you do it for the sake of others, to show off, to appear more righteous or more believing, you will have no reward from God.

So, if you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Here, we see that what is important for Christ is not to display your works. Do not seek your reward from people. If you want to give charity, if you are giving, do it in such a way that your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing. And God will reward you for that. It is said, "Let it be good." God does not want you to show off to people. He says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others." Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Again, here we see that when He talks about prayer, He does not say to ask others if they pray or if they read the Word. It is better to pray yourself. Pray your prayers, do whatever is in your heart. No, that is not the case. Shaya, you mentioned exactly those things we see every day. For example, at gatherings, weddings, or other events, they go in front of people, block the way, and perform their prayers. Yet, here God tells us that this is solely for Him.

Not for the people around us. If our goal is truly to worship God and to follow His commandments, it is better to go to a place where we can pray without people seeing us. Our prayers should be a direct connection between us and God, not so that people see us or encourage us, nor to say, "Oh, what a good person; look at how religious he is," when perhaps we are not.

Jesus Christ says, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen." Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Here we see that several times He mentions "Father." Through Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity to have a very close relationship with God as a father and son. No other religion has the ability to refer to God as Father. But Jesus Christ indicates that our relationship with God should resemble that of a child with their father. Just as a child comes up to you, rests their head on your knee, and says, "Dad, I love you. Thank you for providing for us. Thank you for buying us clothes." This is how a child approaches their father.

In the same way, we should approach our Heavenly Father. At the same time, when He speaks about God Almighty, He mentions that only through Jesus Christ can we address God as Father. Other religions cannot refer to God as Father; they use other names, divine names, but they do not have that personal relationship. It is challenging for them to call Him Father. However, through Jesus Christ, He says our relationship with God should be like that of a child with a father.

Then He says, "When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." Shaya, think of it this way: imagine a child coming to their father and using the same words repeatedly every day. The father might ask, "Why are you speaking in a language I don't understand? Speak in your own language." God understands our language, and He is the Creator. We come daily before Him in a language that we may not even understand.

We have many people who ask, "Shaya, could you explain to me what that phrase means?" Indeed, many people do not understand what they are saying in prayer. But here, when it says, "Do not keep repeating the same thing," it means your prayers will not be answered just by repeating them over and over. Every day, pray to God in your own language, the language you understand and feel in your heart. Worship Him, give thanks, and express that God, You are Almighty; I love You.

So here we see what Jesus Christ is pointing out to His disciples. After that, He says, "This is how you should pray." He does not say to repeat after Him, but instead, He gives a framework for prayer.

Here we see how beautiful this framework is. When you pray, say, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." I always say, through Jesus Christ, we can have a close and intimate connection with God, so we can say, "Our Father, our God, our Heavenly Father, may Your name be glorified." God is holy and sacred. Let us glorify His name. Then He says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

This is what we should seek in our prayers—not our own desires. There are many things we want that may not be beneficial for us, but God understands. First, we seek God's will in our prayers. Then He says, "Give us today our daily bread." We come before the Almighty God with our needs. Just as a child says to their father, "Dad, my toy broke; could you buy me a new one?"—these are the necessities. Just as Jesus Christ says, "Ask for your daily bread from God."

After that, He says, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." We stand in the presence of God when we pray, and we are sinners. Each of us has sinned, whether we wanted to or not. So what do we do in our prayers? We ask for forgiveness from God. We ask for forgiveness for our sins, whether we wanted to or not, and in the continuation of forgiveness, when we ask God to forgive us, the Word of God says, "Just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us."

Jesus Christ always emphasizes the importance of love. He says, "Even forgive your enemies. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other." We see how important it is to forgive others. We should not come before God with hatred or say, "God, blind that person," or "God, give that person death." No, no. That is not the correct prayer. Many people pray like this.

What the followers of Jesus Christ do is to seek forgiveness from God, and at that moment, what does God want? That you also forgive each other. We are weak; we are human. Jesus Christ mentions this. He says, "Because you are human and weak, always say, 'Keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil.'" It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can be freed from temptation and evil.

And finally, why? "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen." And what do we say at the end? We declare that God is the true King, powerful, majestic, glorious, the God of all creation. We say, "Thank You, we are weak, but You are our God." We declare this and then say, "Amen."

So this is perhaps the prayer that we, followers of Jesus Christ, pray. You may be among those who have this question about our prayer, but in our programme, we always pray. We worship and we have individual as well as congregational prayers. We gather to pray throughout the week, and on Sundays, the day of Jesus Christ's resurrection, we gather in church for communal prayer, joyfully, with worship and thanksgiving songs. We read the Word of God and praise our Creator. We truly thank God that we can worship Him and read His holy Word, and it is good that our listeners gain more knowledge in these areas, as Christianity is not as portrayed by films or Hollywood. God wants us to pray when we get up from our beds, read the Word of God, and when we share meals, or when we find time to gather with others, we pray and give thanks to God.

Indeed, yes, Shaya, without prayer, we cannot attempt anything. Often, if you have seen followers of Jesus Christ, you might not hear them boastfully saying, "Look, I am praying." They do not draw attention to themselves; they engage in prayer quietly, in a way that resembles a child sitting at their father's feet, seeking an intimate connection with God.

Thank you, Jawad, for coming to the studio. I hope our listeners who lack information understand how Christians pray, read the Word of God, and how they establish a relationship with God.

Well, dear friends, that was our programme for today, which we presented to you. In the upcoming programmes, we will continue to serve you. We commend all of you to God. Our Father, who is in heaven, may Your name be glorified. Give us today our daily bread. As we forgive those who have sinned against us, forgive us our sins as well.